Arab booksellers and bookshops in the age of printing, 1850-1914

Ami Ayalon*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

The emergence of massive printing in the Arab Middle East in the nineteenth century entailed a multiple set of changes. As well as the production of written texts in unprecedented quantities and the rise of a big reading public, that historic shift also gave birth to a range of diffusion channels-from bookshops to public libraries and from newspaper agents to reading clubs-which carried the printed works to their audiences. This article examines a small section of this scene: the growth, spreading and changing characteristics of book dealerships and bookshops in the Arab Ottoman provinces during the formative half-century prior to World War I. Exploring this mechanism casts light on the nature and pace of printing assimilation in the region, projecting it as a rather dramatic makeover.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe History of the Book in the Middle East
PublisherTaylor and Francis
Pages277-297
Number of pages21
ISBN (Electronic)9781315239187
ISBN (Print)9781409433101
DOIs
StatePublished - 2 Mar 2017

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